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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

DecoArt Media Line Now Available at ...

Hi guys! Sorry for the teaser title! So without further delay .... select Joanne's!!! You can now (or soon will) find DecoArt Media Line Fluid Acrylics and mediums in a Joann's near you. But rest assured, if you do not have a Joanne's near you they are still available on the DecoArt online store.

So if you are like me, you are wondering "what can these puppies do?" After all acrylics are acrylics, right?? Not really. The first thing you need to know is NOT to put a huge blob of paint on your palette. All you need is a little (and I mean LITTLE) drop of paint. They are INTENSELY pigmented and go so much further than you would think. Because of their fluidity I really wanted to put it them to the test so I decided to try them in my airbrush. Let me show you the finished painting and then I'll walk through it step by step.

I loved deckled edges (torn looking, not perfectly cut) so I started there. I took a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper and tore the edges:

I ended up with an 8x8" square. The next step was to sketch out my flower with a plain old #2 pencil. Because I was using my airbrush I knew I wouldn't have much control so I created a mask with Grafix Friskit Film. After that was in place I knew I wanted to add some shapes in the background that would resemble out of focus leaves. That was so easily accomplished using Andy Skinners Snakeskin stencil and DecoArt Media Mister in Primary Yellow.

Now on to Airbrushing. This was so easily accomplished using just 1 drop of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics (list of colors used for the entire project will be at the end) and 2 drops of water.

Once I had the paint drops and water in the airbrush cup I mixed them together with a paintbrush. I was even able to do some custom color mixing inside the paint cup. I added a drop of Carbon Black to Phathlo Green - Blue to get a darker color for the border. I apologize for not getting more shots of the airbrush process but I got lost in the process. I just kept building up layers until I was satisfied. This look can also be achieved with a paintbrush or even a sponge. I removed the Friskit Mask at this point (but save them, you never know when you might have to reapply like I do at the end)

Next I wanted a way to tie the background to the flower. I accomplished that by collaging with Deco Page papers:

I adhered them with Media Matte Medium and gave the flower a skim coat of Matte medium. I like the way this makes the paint "grab" differently on the watercolor paper.

Now on to the fine details:

Those white squiggles will be washed with some yellow paint. Next was to add shadows to the petals with Paynes Gray water downed:

Noticed that I had gone over the collage papers with some greens and yellows to help them to blend into the background. I wasn't happy that I lost some of the details from the stencil process but I will remedy that at the end.

Next is to add some pink (Primary Magenta, one of my absolute favorites):

I side loaded an angle brush to achieve that graduated blend. I have also added some Cerulean Blue to the petals in spots to accentuate shadows.

Now back to those stenciled shapes I lost. It was easily remedied by replacing the Friskit Mask and spraying DecoArt Media Mister in Shimmer White. Since they are permanent once dry (hallelujah!!!) I was able to add a thin wash of yellow paint to get back to where I was earlier. I also added some splatters of water downed Carbon Black.

Once dry I removed the mask and gave it a coat of DecoArt Media Gloss Varnish (but you could also use Matte if that is your choice). And finally, here's the finished painting and some close ups of the details:

Supplies:

140 lb. Watercolor Paper

Airbrush (optional)

Angle Brush

Friskit Film or Masking Fluid

Stencils of choice

Good reference materials for drawing or transferring to your watercolor paper*

About Me

Just a girl coloring her world one day at a time. Each day is a different blank page, card or canvas waiting to get inky, collaged, drawn on, doodled on, stenciled, .... you get the idea. Art supplies make me happy. Come on, let's make something pretty =0)